Sergei Aksionov, a little known Crimean politician, was appointed prime minister of the peninsula by the regional parliament last week after armed men linked to Russia entered the parliament building. Aksionov declared March 2 as the “birthday” of an independent Crimean naval force, and said that almost all Ukrainian military bases on the peninsula had now come under the control of the “Autonomous Republic”.

Putin’s puppet parliament in Crimea voted to join Russia on Thursday. The new Ukrainian government declared the referendum illegal and opened a criminal investigation against Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Askyonov.

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